Systems and methods for triggering workload movement based on policy stack having multiple selectable inputs

ABSTRACT

Embodiments relate to systems and methods for triggering workload movement based on a policy stack having multiple selectable inputs. A set of aggregate usage history data can record consumption of processor, software, or other resources subscribed to by one or more users in a or clouds. An entitlement engine can analyze the usage history data to identify a subscription margin and other trends or data reflecting short-term consumption trends. An associated policy management tool can receive, build, and update a migration policy stack containing a set of configurable policies that can be applied to the conditions of the workload to determine whether, when, and where to migrate the workload or portions thereof to a new cloud host or hosts. In aspects, the policy stack can include user-selectable policy parameters, such as resource consumption thresholds and/or subscription time periods, which can dynamically vary and/or which can be expressed as functions of other policies or resource-consumption variables. In aspects, the policy stack can have different depths and different individual policies at different times and/or under different operating conditions.

FIELD

The invention relates generally to systems and methods for triggeringworkload movement based on a policy stack having multiple selectableinputs, and more particularly, to platforms and techniques for buildingand applying a migration policy stack that can be used to governmigration policies for workloads operating in a cloud, where the policystack can be based on or a function of multiple selectable inputs, canbe dynamically varying at different times and/or different conditions,and which can be updated at any time with further user selections orother policy changes.

BACKGROUND

The advent of cloud-based computing architectures has opened newpossibilities for the rapid and scalable deployment of virtual Webstores, media outlets, social networking sites, and many other on-linesites or services. In general, a cloud-based architecture deploys a setof hosted resources such as processors, operating systems, software andother components that can be combined together to form virtual machines.A user or customer can request the instantiation of a virtual machine orset of machines from those resources from a central server or cloudmanagement system to perform intended tasks, services, or applications.For example, a user may wish to set up and instantiate a virtual serverfrom the cloud to create a storefront to market products or services ona temporary basis, for instance, to sell tickets to or merchandise foran upcoming sports or musical performance. The user can subscribe to theset of resources needed to build and run the set of instantiated virtualmachines on a comparatively short-term basis, such as hours or days, fortheir intended application.

Typically, when a user utilizes a cloud, the user must track thesoftware applications executed in the cloud and/or processesinstantiated in the cloud. For example, the user must track the cloudprocesses to ensure that the correct cloud processes have beeninstantiated, that the cloud processes are functioning properly and/orefficiently, that the cloud is providing sufficient resources to thecloud processes, and so forth. Due in part to the user's requirementsand overall usage of the cloud, the user may have many applicationsand/or processes instantiated in a cloud at any given instant, and theuser's deployment of virtual machines, software, and other resources canchange dynamically over time. In cases, the user may also utilizemultiple independent host clouds to support the user's cloud deployment.That user may further instantiate and use multiple applications or othersoftware or services inside or across multiple of those cloudboundaries, and those resources may be used or consumed by multiple ordiffering end-user groups in those different cloud networks.

In terms of the management of a set of virtual machines operated by auser in a cloud, at times the user's consumption of resources in thecloud can vary and/or spike, at different times and/or under differentconditions. Since in one regard consumption spikes may entail enhancedor increased subscription costs to the user, that user may wish toattempt to manage their executing workload by way of potential migrationto lower-cost or otherwise alternative host clouds or providers.Existing cloud management platforms do not provide the cloud user oroperator with tools to configure or manage a set of policies to triggerthose types of migrations, based on dynamically changing parameters orconditions which can be set to comprise different types, depths,dependencies, and/or other combinations of workload parameters atdifferent times or under different resource consumption conditions, suchas functionally tying resource consumption limits or thresholds todynamic workload conditions such as varying transaction rates ormessaging throughput, for example.

It may be desirable to provide systems and methods for triggeringworkload movement based on a policy stack having multiple selectableinputs, in which a user can set up, configure, and administer amigration policy stack which can combine multiple or differentselectable triggers, conditions, and/or functions to initiate workloadmigrations based on criteria which can dynamically change at differenttimes or otherwise adapt to different operating conditions of the user'sworkload or workloads.

DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 illustrates an overall cloud system architecture in which variousaspects of systems and methods for triggering workload movement based ona policy stack having multiple selectable inputs can be implemented,according to embodiments;

FIG. 2 illustrates an overall cloud system architecture in which variousaspects of systems and methods for triggering workload movement based ona policy stack having multiple selectable inputs can be implemented, infurther regards;

FIG. 3 illustrates a network configuration in which systems and methodsfor triggering workload movement based on a policy stack having multipleselectable inputs can be implemented, including the capture andreconciliation of short-term resource consumption margins across a setof multiple users, potentially across multiple host clouds as well as tostore an process a migration policy stack for workload migration;

FIG. 4 illustrates an exemplary data structure in which the capture andaggregation of marginal resource consumption data for multiple users,migration schedules and other data can be encoded and stored, accordingto various aspects;

FIG. 5 illustrates a migration policy stack including selection activityto input user-selectable policies or parameters, according to aspects;

FIG. 6 illustrates an exemplary hardware configuration for a cloudmanagement system and/or other hardware that can support and maintainone or more cloud-based networks and migration activities, according tovarious embodiments;

FIG. 7 illustrates a flowchart for the analysis and processing ofshort-term resource consumption by a set of users in different clouds,and the reconciliation of different marginal consumption values forthose users including potentially across those clouds in an aggregate oroffset subscription cost, that can be used in systems and methods fortriggering workload movement based on a policy stack having multipleselectable inputs, according to various embodiments; and

FIG. 8 illustrates a flowchart for migration policy generation andadministration that can be used in systems and methods for triggeringworkload movement based on a policy stack having multiple selectableinputs, according to various embodiments

DESCRIPTION

Embodiments described herein can be implemented in or supported by acloud network architecture. As used herein, a “cloud” can comprise acollection of hardware, software, services, and/or resources that can beinvoked to instantiate a virtual machine, process, or other resource fora limited or defined duration. As shown for example in FIG. 1, thecollection of resources supporting a cloud 102 can at a hardware levelcomprise a set of resource servers 108 configured to deliver computingcomponents needed to instantiate a virtual machine, process, service, orother resource. For example, one group of resource servers in set ofresource servers 108 can host and serve an operating system, and/orcomponents, utilities, or interfaces related to that operating system,to deliver to a virtual target, and instantiate that machine with animage of that operating system. Another group of servers in set ofresource servers 108 can accept requests to host computing cycles orprocessor time, memory allocations, communications ports or links,and/or other resources to supply a defined level of processing power orthroughput for a virtual machine. A further group of resource servers inset of resource servers 108 can host and serve applications or othersoftware to load on an instantiation of a virtual machine, such as anemail client, a browser application, a messaging application, or otherapplications, software, or services. Other types of resource servers canbe used to support one or more clouds 102.

In embodiments, the entire set of resource servers 108 and/or otherhardware or software resources used to support one or more clouds 102,along with the set of instantiated virtual machines, can be managed by acloud management system 104. The cloud management system 104 cancomprise a dedicated or centralized server and/or other software,hardware, services, and network tools that communicate via network 106,such as the Internet or other public or private network, with allservers in set of resource servers 108 to manage the cloud 102 and itsoperation. To instantiate a new or updated set of virtual machines, auser can transmit an instantiation request to the cloud managementsystem 104 for the particular type of virtual machine they wish toinvoke for their intended application. A user can for instance make arequest to instantiate a set of virtual machines configured for email,messaging or other applications from the cloud 102. The virtual machinescan be instantiated as virtual client machines, virtual appliancemachines consisting of special-purpose or dedicated-task machines asunderstood in the art, and/or as other virtual machines or entities. Therequest to invoke and instantiate the desired complement of virtualmachines can be received and processed by the cloud management system104, which identifies the type of virtual machine, process, or otherresource being requested in that platform's associated cloud. The cloudmanagement system 104 can then identify the collection of hardware,software, service, and/or other resources necessary to instantiate thatcomplement of virtual machines or other resources. In embodiments, theset of instantiated virtual machines or other resources can, forexample, and as noted, comprise virtual transaction servers used tosupport Web storefronts, Web pages, and/or other transaction sites.

In embodiments, the user's instantiation request can specify a varietyof parameters defining the operation of the set of virtual machines tobe invoked. The instantiation request, for example, can specify adefined period of time for which the instantiated collection ofmachines, services, or processes is needed. The period of time can be,for example, an hour, a day, a month, or other interval of time. Inembodiments, the user's instantiation request can specify theinstantiation of a set of virtual machines or processes on a task basis,rather than for a predetermined amount or interval of time. Forinstance, a user could request a set of virtual provisioning servers andother resources until a target software update is completed on apopulation of corporate or other machines. The user's instantiationrequest can in further regards specify other parameters that define theconfiguration and operation of the set of virtual machines or otherinstantiated resources. For example, the request can specify a specificminimum or maximum amount of processing power or input/output (I/O)throughput that the user wishes to be available to each instance of thevirtual machine or other resource. In embodiments, the requesting usercan for instance specify a service level agreement (SLA) acceptable fortheir desired set of applications or services. Other parameters andsettings can be used to instantiate and operate a set of virtualmachines, software, and other resources in the host clouds. One skilledin the art will realize that the user's request can likewise includecombinations of the foregoing exemplary parameters, and others. It maybe noted that “user” herein can include a network-level user orsubscriber to cloud-based networks, such as a corporation, governmententity, educational institution, and/or other entity, includingindividual users and groups of users.

When the request to instantiate a set of virtual machines or otherresources has been received and the necessary resources to build thosemachines or resources have been identified, the cloud management system104 can communicate with one or more set of resource servers 108 tolocate resources to supply the required components. Generally, the cloudmanagement system 104 can select servers from the diverse set ofresource servers 108 to assemble the various components needed to buildthe requested set of virtual machines, services, or other resources. Itmay be noted that in some embodiments, permanent storage, such asoptical storage or hard disk arrays, may or may not be included orlocated within the set of resource servers 108 available to the cloudmanagement system 104, since the set of instantiated virtual machines orother resources may be intended to operate on a purely transient ortemporary basis. In embodiments, other hardware, software or otherresources not strictly located or hosted in one or more clouds 102 canbe accessed and leveraged as needed. For example, other software orservices that are provided outside of one or more clouds 102 acting ashosts, and are instead hosted by third parties outside the boundaries ofthose clouds, can be invoked by in-cloud virtual machines or users. Forfurther example, other non-cloud hardware and/or storage services can beutilized as an extension to the one or more clouds 102 acting as hostsor native clouds, for instance, on an on-demand, subscribed, orevent-triggered basis.

With the resource requirements identified for building a network ofvirtual machines, the cloud management system 104 can extract and buildthe set of virtual machines or other resources on a dynamic, on-demandbasis. For example, one set of resource servers 108 may respond to aninstantiation request for a given quantity of processor cycles with anoffer to deliver that computational power immediately and guaranteed forthe next hour or day. A further set of resource servers 108 can offer toimmediately supply communication bandwidth, for example on a guaranteedminimum or best-efforts basis, for instance over a defined window oftime. In other embodiments, the set of virtual machines or otherresources can be built on a batch basis, or at a particular future time.For example, a set of resource servers 108 may respond to a request forinstantiation of virtual machines at a programmed time with an offer todeliver the specified quantity of processor cycles within a specificamount of time, such as the next 12 hours. Other timing and resourceconfigurations are possible.

After interrogating and receiving resource commitments from the set ofresource servers 108, the cloud management system 104 can select a groupof servers in the set of resource servers 108 that match or best matchthe instantiation request for each component needed to build the user'srequested virtual machine, service, or other resource. The cloudmanagement system 104 for the one or more clouds 102 acting as thedestination for the virtual machines can then coordinate the integrationof the identified group of servers from the set of resource servers 108,to build and launch the requested set of virtual machines or otherresources. The cloud management system 104 can track the identifiedgroup of servers selected from the set of resource servers 108, or otherdistributed resources that are dynamically or temporarily combined, toproduce and manage the requested virtual machine population, services,or other cloud-based resources.

In embodiments, the cloud management system 104 can generate a resourceaggregation table or other record that identifies the various selectedsets of resource servers in set of resource servers 108 that will beused to supply the components of the set of instantiated virtualmachines, services, or processes. The selected sets of resource serverscan be identified by unique identifiers such as, for instance, Internetprotocol (IP) addresses or other addresses. In aspects, different setsof servers in set of resource servers 108 can be selected to deliverdifferent resources to different users and/or for differentapplications. The cloud management system 104 can register the finalizedgroup of servers in the set resource servers 108 contributing to orotherwise supporting the set of instantiated machines, services, orprocesses.

The cloud management system 104 can then set up and launch theinitiation process to instantiate the virtual machines, processes,services, and/or other resources to be hosted and delivered from the oneor more clouds 102. The cloud management system 104 can for instancetransmit an instantiation command or instruction to the registered groupof servers in the set of resource servers 108. The cloud managementsystem 104 can receive a confirmation message back from each registeredserver in set of resource servers 108 indicating a status or stateregarding the provisioning of their respective resources. Variousregistered resource servers may confirm, for example, the availabilityof a dedicated amount of processor cycles, amounts of electronic memory,communications bandwidth, services, and/or applications or othersoftware prepared to be served and delivered.

As shown for example in FIG. 2, after coordination of the sources andconfiguration of resources including the hardware layer, selectedsoftware, and/or other resources, the cloud management system 104 canthen instantiate a set of virtual machines 116, and/or other appliances,services, processes, and/or entities, based on the resources supplied byservers within set of resource servers 108 registered to support the oneor more clouds 102 in a multiple-cloud network 110. According toaspects, cloud management system 104 can access or interact with avirtualization module, platform, or service to instantiate and operateset of virtual machines 116, such as the kernel-based virtualizationmanager (KVM™) available from Red Hat, Inc. of Raleigh, N.C., or others.In embodiments, the cloud management system 104 can instantiate a givennumber, for example, 10, 500, 1000, 20,000, or other numbers orinstances of virtual machines to populate one or more clouds 102 and bemade available to users of that cloud or clouds. In aspects, users mayaccess the one or more clouds 102 via the Internet, or other public orprivate networks. Each virtual machine can be assigned an instantiatedmachine ID that can be stored in the resource aggregation table, orother record or image of the instantiated virtual machine population.Additionally, the cloud management system 104 can store data related tothe duration of the existence or operation of each operating virtualmachine, as well as the collection of resources utilized by the overallset of instantiated virtual machines 116.

In embodiments, the cloud management system 104 can further store, trackand manage each users identity and associated set of rights orentitlements to software, hardware, and other resources. Each user thatoperates a virtual machine or service in the set of virtual machines inthe cloud can have specific rights and resources assigned and madeavailable to them, with associated access rights and securityprovisions. The cloud management system 104 can track and configurespecific actions that each user can perform, such as the ability toprovision a set of virtual machines with software applications or otherresources, configure a set of virtual machines to desiredspecifications, submit jobs to the set of virtual machines or otherhost, manage other users of the set of instantiated virtual machines 116or other resources, and/or other privileges, entitlements, or actions.The cloud management system 104 associated with the virtual machine(s)of each user can further generate records of the usage of instantiatedvirtual machines to permit tracking, billing, and auditing of theresources and services consumed by the user or set of users. In aspectsof the present teachings, the tracking of usage activity for one or moreuser (including network level user and/or end-user) can be abstractedfrom any one cloud to which that user is registered, and made availablefrom an external or independent usage tracking service capable oftracking software and other usage across an arbitrary collection ofclouds, as described herein. In embodiments, the cloud management system104 of an associated cloud can for example meter the usage and/orduration of the set of instantiated virtual machines 116, to generatesubscription and/or billing records for a user that has launched thosemachines. In aspects, tracking records can in addition or instead begenerated by an internal service operating within a given cloud. Othersubscription, billing, entitlement and/or value arrangements arepossible.

The cloud management system 104 can configure each virtual machine inset of instantiated virtual machines 116 to be made available to usersvia one or more networks 116, such as the Internet or other public orprivate networks. Those users can for instance access set ofinstantiated virtual machines via a browser interface, via anapplication server such as a Java™ server, via an applicationprogramming interface (API), and/or other interface or mechanism. Eachinstantiated virtual machine in set of instantiated virtual machines 116can likewise communicate with its associated cloud management system 104and the registered servers in set of resource servers 108 via a standardWeb application programming interface (API), or via other calls,protocols, and/or interfaces. The set of instantiated virtual machines116 can likewise communicate with each other, as well as other sites,servers, locations, and resources available via the Internet or otherpublic or private networks, whether within a given cloud in one or moreclouds 102, or between those or other clouds.

It may be noted that while a browser interface or other front-end can beused to view and operate the set of instantiated virtual machines 116from a client or terminal, the processing, memory, communications,storage, and other hardware as well as software resources required to becombined to build the virtual machines or other resources are all hostedremotely in the one or more clouds 102. In embodiments, the set ofvirtual machines 116 or other services, machines, or resources may notdepend in any degree on or require the user's own on-premise hardware orother resources. In embodiments, a user can therefore request andinstantiate a set of virtual machines or other resources on a purelyoff-premise basis, for instance to build and launch a virtualstorefront, messaging site, and/or any other application. Likewise, oneor more clouds 102 can also be formed in whole or part from resourceshosted or maintained by the users of those clouds, themselves.

Because the cloud management system 104 in one regard specifies, builds,operates and manages the set of instantiated virtual machines 116 on alogical or virtual level, the user can request and receive differentsets of virtual machines and other resources on a real-time or nearreal-time basis, without a need to specify, install, or configure anyparticular hardware. The user's set of instantiated virtual machines116, processes, services, and/or other resources can in one regardtherefore be scaled up or down immediately or virtually immediately onan on-demand basis, if desired. In embodiments, the set of resourceservers 108 that are accessed by the cloud management system 104 tosupport the set of instantiated virtual machines 116 or processes canchange or be substituted, over time. The type and operatingcharacteristics of the set of instantiated virtual machines 116 cannevertheless remain constant or virtually constant, since instances areassembled from a collection of abstracted resources that can be selectedand maintained from diverse sources based on uniform specifications.Conversely, the users of the set of instantiated virtual machines 116can also change or update the resource or operational specifications ofthose machines at any time. The cloud management system 104 and/or otherlogic can then adapt the allocated resources for that population ofvirtual machines or other entities, on a dynamic basis.

In terms of network management of the set of instantiate virtualmachines 116 that have been successfully configured and instantiated,the one or more cloud management systems 104 associated with thosemachines can perform various network management tasks includingsecurity, maintenance, and metering for billing or subscriptionpurposes. The cloud management system 104 of one or more clouds 102 can,for example, install, initiate, suspend, or terminate instances ofapplications or appliances on individual machines. The cloud managementsystem 104 can similarly monitor one or more operating virtual machinesto detect any virus or other rogue process on individual machines, andfor instance terminate an application identified as infected, or avirtual machine detected to have entered a fault state. The cloudmanagement system 104 can likewise manage the set of instantiatedvirtual machines 116 or other resources on a network-wide or othercollective basis, for instance, to push the delivery a software upgradeto all active virtual machines or subsets of machines. Other networkmanagement processes can be carried out by cloud management system 104and/or other associated logic.

In embodiments, more than one set of virtual machines can beinstantiated in a given cloud at the same time, at overlapping times,and/or at successive times or intervals. The cloud management system 104can, in such implementations, build, launch and manage multiple sets ofvirtual machines as part of the set of instantiated virtual machines 116based on the same or different underlying set of resource servers 108,with populations of different virtual machines such as may be requestedby the same or different users. The cloud management system 104 caninstitute and enforce security protocols in one or more clouds 102hosting one or more sets of virtual machines. Each of the individualsets or subsets of virtual machines in the set of instantiated virtualmachines 116 can be hosted in a respective partition or sub-cloud of theresources of the main cloud 102. The cloud management system 104 of oneor more clouds 102 can for example deploy services specific to isolatedor defined sub-clouds, or isolate individual workloads/processes withinthe cloud to a specific sub-cloud or other sub-domain or partition ofthe one or more clouds 102 acting as host. The subdivision of one ormore clouds 102 into distinct transient sub-clouds, sub-components, orother subsets which have assured security and isolation features canassist in establishing a multiple user or multi-tenant cloudarrangement. In a multiple-user scenario, each of the multiple users canuse the cloud platform as a common utility while retaining the assurancethat their information is secure from other users of the same one ormore clouds 102. In further embodiments, sub-clouds can nevertheless beconfigured to share resources, if desired.

In embodiments, and as also shown in FIG. 2, the set of instantiatedvirtual machines 116 generated in a first cloud in one or more clouds102 can also interact with a set of instantiated virtual machines,services, and/or processes generated in a second, third or further cloudin one or more clouds 102, comprising a multiple-cloud network 110. Thecloud management system 104 of a first cloud of one or more clouds 102can interface with the cloud management system 104 of a second, third,or further cloud of one or more clouds 102 to coordinate those domainsand operate the clouds and/or virtual machines, services,-and/orprocesses on a combined basis. The cloud management system 104 of agiven cloud on one or more clouds 102 can in aspects track and manageindividual virtual machines or other resources instantiated in thatcloud, as well as the set of instantiated virtual machines or otherresources in other clouds.

In the foregoing and other embodiments, the user making an instantiationrequest or otherwise accessing or utilizing the cloud network can be aperson, customer, subscriber, administrator, corporation, organization,government, and/or other entity. In embodiments, the user can be orinclude another virtual machine, application, service and/or process. Infurther embodiments, multiple users or entities can share the use of aset of virtual machines or other resources.

Aspects of the present teachings relate to platforms and techniques inwhich a policy management tool and/or other application, service, and/orlogic can build, maintain, and apply a migration policy stack comprisinga set of rules, thresholds, parameters, functions, and/or other criteriaor policies by which the migration of one or more workloads to a newhost target cloud can be analyzed and potentially carried out. Inaspects, the migration policy stack can be automatically generatedand/or initiated, in whole or part, by the policy management toolitself, although in implementations, the migration policy stack can inaddition or instead be generated and/or initiated through manual inputsand/or selections received from a user. In aspects, the rules and/orother criteria contained in the migration policy stack can be configuredin layers and/or to form compound policies, which can depend on or be afunction of other policies and/or conditions, so that the resultingmigration policy stack may not be fixed or static in nature, butinstead, may represent a set of decision logic that is dynamic and/ortime-varying in nature. In implementations, a user can update or alterthe migration policy stack at any time through a graphical or otherinterface, creating additional flexibility in workload operations andmanagement.

Consistent with the foregoing, in general, FIG. 3 shows an illustrativenetwork configuration in which systems and methods for triggeringworkload movement based on a policy stack having multiple selectableinputs can be implemented, according to various embodiments. Inembodiments as shown, one or more users can operate a user premise 144,such as a local area network with a set of servers and client machines,and/or other machines or resources. In aspects, a set of users 190 canin addition or instead operate one or more sets of virtual machines,appliances, and/or other virtual entities (not shown) in a set of hostclouds 142. In aspects, the set of users 190 can be or include acollection of sub-groups of users who are each affiliated with or a partof the same entity, such as a corporation, government entity, and/orother organization. In aspects, the corporation and/or other collectiveentity can establish overall subscription parameters to which its usersare entitled on a collective basis. In cases, the individual teams orusers may not be aware or have a mechanism by which to track overallresource consumption on a collective basis, for instance to maintainservice or resource level limits.

According to aspects, systems and methods according to the presentteachings can permit centralized processing of workload management andmigration policies, among other management functions and controls. Inaspects, the set of host clouds 142 hosting the set of users 190 caninclude a set of diverse and/or otherwise unrelated cloud-based networksto which the set of users 190 can subscribe for various resources undervarious subscription terms, limits, criteria, service level agreements,and/or other conditions, which can be recorded or reflected in a set ofsubscription parameters 146. The set of subscription parameters 146 canfor instance be stored in the cloud store 138 hosted or accessed by acloud management system 104, and/or in other storage resources orlocations.

In embodiments as shown, an administrator and/or other user can operatea client 154 or other interface or terminal, for instance a clientlocated in or communicating with the user premise 144 to access the setof subscription parameters 146 and other information related to theconsumption of resources in the set of host clouds 142 by the set ofusers 190. In aspects, the consumption of resources in the set of hostclouds 142 and generation of related billing events and othersubscription-related activities can be tracked and managed by anentitlement engine 140, which can be hosted in the cloud managementsystem 104 and/or in other locations, resources, or services. Accordingto aspects, the entitlement engine 140 can communicate with a one ormore resource providers 156, such as the vendors of software such asoperating systems, applications, utilities, and/or other programs,services, and/or related resources. The one or more resource providers156 can maintain part or all of the terms, conditions, limits, criteria,stipulations, and/or other parameters of the subscription of the set ofusers 190 to one or more resources hosted or provisioned in the set ofhost clouds 142, and for instance reflected in the set of subscriptionparameters 146.

In aspects, each host cloud in the set of host clouds 142 can captureand store a set of local usage data 152. The set of local usage data 152can record the consumption or use of resources in a local host cloud inthe set of host clouds 142, such as the number of instances of softwareincluding operating systems and applications, processor resources,memory resources, communications resources, storage resources, and/orother elements or resources. The set of local usage data 152 can includeusage data for one, some, and/or all of the set of users 190 operatingvirtual machines or otherwise consuming resources in each particularhost cloud. The entitlement engine 140 can periodically receive the setof local usage data 152 and/or updates to that information from one ormore host clouds in the set of host clouds 142. The receipt of the setof local usage data 152 or any portion of the set of local usage data152 can be performed in aspects on a pull or demand basis, where theentitlement engine 140 and/or other logic can issue commands orinstructions to one or more host clouds in the set of host clouds 142,and receive that data back from the interrogated cloud or clouds. Inaspects, the set of local usage data 152 can be transmitted to theentitlement engine 140 on a push basis, for instance, on a scheduled,predetermined, event-triggered, and/or other basis initiated by one ormore of the host clouds in set of host clouds 142, themselves. Otherchannels, schedules, and techniques for the collection of the set oflocal usage data 152 from any one or more of the set of host clouds 142can be used.

After receipt of the set of local usage data 152, any portion orcomponent of the set of local usage data 152, and/or updates to thesame, the entitlement engine 140 can collect and aggregate the set oflocal usage data 152 from the various host clouds and organize that datain a set of aggregate usage history data 148. The set of aggregate usagehistory data 148 can reflect recent and/or accumulated usage consumptionby the set of users 190 and/or any one user or other subset thereof inall of the set of host clouds 142, over comparatively short-term periodsor intervals such as minutes, one or more hours, one day, a number ofdays, a week, a month or months, and/or other intervals or periods. Inaspects, the entitlement engine 140 can collect the set of local usagedata 152 regardless of whether each of those clouds is configured tocommunicate with each other or not. In aspects, the set of aggregateusage history data 148 can present to the entitlement engine 140 and/orother logic the combined resource consumption by the set of users 190across the user premise 144 and/or all operating virtual machines orentities, on an hour-by-hour, day-by-day, and/or other relativelyshort-term basis.

According to aspects, the entitlement engine 140 can thereby identifycomparatively short-term resource consumption by the virtual machines orother entities, sites or nodes operated by the set of users 190, andcapture and track that consumption compared to the short-term limits,levels, thresholds, ceilings, or caps that may be contained in the setof subscription parameters 146 for that user. The entitlement engine 140can therefore generate or determine a short-term consumption margin foreach resource which the set of users 190 consume and/or subscribe to ineach cloud in the set of host clouds 142, indicating whether over thecourse of an hour or other period the consumption rates or values areover the subscription limit for a given resource, under the subscriptionlimit, or at or nearly at the subscription limit for that resource.

Both the over and under-consumption margins for each resource can becaptured and calculated, from which the entitlement engine 140 cangenerate a set of short-term user-aggregated margins 178 representingthe collective short-term consumption of that resource across thediverse host clouds in set of host clouds 142, resulting in an offset oraggregate consumption value. Deviations from short-term consumptioncaps, limits, service level agreements (SLAs), and/or other criteria cantherefore be combined, averaged, aggregated, and/or otherwise “smoothedout” to more accurately and/or timely reflect the consumption patternsof the set of users 190, as a whole on an aggregate basis. In aspects,the resource provider 156, the cloud operators or providers of the setof host clouds 142, and/or other entities can thereby charge, bill, orotherwise adjust the subscription costs or other factors encoded in thebilling record 150 sent to the set of users 190, for instance via anadministrator or other users, so that their subscription obligationsmore closely track the actual consumption behavior demonstrated by theset of users 190. In aspects, the set of short-term user-aggregatedmargins 178 can for instance be used to establish short-term marginalsubscription costs based on short-term deviations from any subscriptionconsumption limits, which costs can then be combined over different timeperiods to further average or aggregate the deviations in resourceconsumption. In aspects, the detection of bursts and relaxations inresource consumption over relatively short-term periods can therebyallow both positive and negative offsets or margins in subscriptioncosts, creating a more accurate assignment of subscription rates. Inembodiments as shown, the over-consumption of one or more resourcesand/or related events can be reflected in a set of over-subscriptionconditions 226, which can include records indicating the degree by whichvarious resources (processor, memory, storage, operating system,application, etc.) exceeds any subscription caps or levels in a giveninterval of time.

In implementations as shown, after detecting the set of short-termuser-aggregated margins 178 for each resource of interest, theentitlement engine 140 can generate a billing record 150 reflecting thatevent, for purposes of notification to the user and collection ofbilling amounts or other responses. In aspects, the entitlement engine140 can transmit or forward the billing record 150 to the resourceprovider 156, such as a software vendor, to produce and transmit to theuser under agreed billing arrangements. In aspects, the entitlementengine 140 can transmit or forward the billing record 150 to one or morehost clouds in set of host clouds 142, including those in which anover-limit resource usage or other event took place, to potentiallytransmit to the set of users 190 and/or other recipient for similarpurposes. In aspects, the resource provider 156 and one or more cloudoperators or cloud providers of the set of host clouds 142 can maintainagreements or arrangements for the capture and forwarding of the billingrecord 150, and the collection of any billing amounts or credits paid bythe user. In aspects, the resource provider 156 and the host cloudproviders or operators can establish arrangements to share or distributeany overage payments or other payments or credits received from usersbetween themselves. According to aspects, the monitoring and billingcapture of short or long-term over-limit resource consumption cantherefore be conducted, on a marginal offset or other basis, even ininstances where each host cloud in set of host clouds 142 is not awareof subscription limits contained in the set of subscription parameters146, and/or the local usage data 152 of one or more of the set of hostclouds 142 is not visible to other host clouds and/or all groups orsub-groups of users within the set of users 190, and/or to otherparticipants in the cloud-based network.

In implementations, the cloud management system 102 and/or other server,logic, and/or resource of the set of host clouds 142 and/or other cloudsor networks can be configured with a policy management tool 210, whichcan be or include application(s), software, logic, services, hardware,and/or other resources used to implement various processing anddecisions for initiating, building, maintaining, and applying amigration policy stack 196 that can be used to monitor, direct, andmanage the migration of one or more workloads 200 which are operatingand/or executing in the set of host clouds 142 and/or other hosts. Inaspects, the policy management tool 210 can access information regardingthe resource consumption of the one or more workloads 200 via the set ofaggregate usage history data 148 and/or other data sources or records,and determine the overall operating condition of the one or moreworkloads 200 including rates of resource consumption (e.g., processor,memory, storage, operating system instances, application instances) bythe set of virtual machines 116 executing and/or supporting the one ormore workloads 200. In cases, the user or operator of the one or moreworkloads 200 may wish to consider moving or migration the one or moreworkloads 200 to one or more target clouds 204, due tounder-consumption, over-consumption, and/or other operating conditionsof the one or more workloads 200. In the case of under-consumption, theuser or operator may wish to migrate the one or more workloads 200because the user is over-committed in terms of their set of subscriptionparameters 146 to more hardware, software, and/or other resources thanthe one or more workloads 200 demand or require, so that potentiallyreduced costs and/or other benefits can be achieved by migrating the oneor more workloads 200 to the one or more target clouds 204 under morefavorable subscription terms. In the case of over-consumption, the useror operator may wish to migrate the one or more workloads 200 becausethe user is under-subscribed in terms of their set of subscriptionparameters 146 for the hardware, software, and/or other resources thanthe one or more workloads 200 demand or require. In that case, avoidanceof enhanced subscription charges and other cost reductions and/or otherbenefits can be achieved by migrating the one or more workloads 200 tothe one or more target clouds 204 with larger capacities and/orincreased or scaled resources, so that migration will also representsubscription benefits. In aspects, to assist with those and otheroperations, the policy management tool 210 can build and maintain themigration policy stack 196 to establish and apply migration policiesthat can, in general, change or vary depending on conditions in the oneor more workloads 200 and/or other factors.

To perform those policy-related tasks, the policy management tool 210and/or other logic, application, and/or service can interact with aselection interface 194, such as a graphical or other user interface ona client or other machine, to receive selections and/or inputs from theadministrator and/or other user of the one or more workloads 200 todevelop migration conditions and rules. In general, the user can operatethe selection interface 194 and/or other interface or channel to supplyor select a set of user-supplied policy parameters 192 to analyze,organize, and guide the migration of one or more workloads 200 to one ormore target clouds 204. In aspects, the set of user-supplied policyparameters 192 can be or include data, variables, parameters,thresholds, functions, and/or criteria, such as rules or logic relate toconsumption rates for various resources used in one or more workloads200, time periods over which the one or more workloads 200 operatesand/or resources, and/or other factors, variables, and/or criteria. Inaspects, for example, the user can operate the selection interface 194to provide a set of user-supplied policy parameters 192 that indicatethat migration should be performed or considered “each night from Mondaythrough Friday from 9:00 p.m. to 6:00 a.m. if the transaction rate forthe one or more workloads 200 falls below a rate of 10transactions/second for more than 30 minutes.” The user can likewiseoperate the selection interface 194 to provide a set of user-suppliedpolicy parameters 192 that indicate that migration should be performedor considered “each night Saturday and Sunday from 8:00 a.m. to 11:00p.m. if the transaction rate for the one or more workloads 200 fallsbelow a rate of 15 transactions/second for more than 60 minutes.” Inaspects, the user can operate the selection interface 194 to input orselect a set of user-supplied policy parameters 192 which comprise,configure, and/or generate one or more compound migration parameters202, which can represent a sequence or layers of parameters which arefunctionally inter-related to each other to create a contingent ordynamic policy. The one or more compound migration parameters 202 can beor include, for instance, an indication that migration should beevaluate when “processor usage falls below 80% of subscription limitsand operating system instances fall below 70% of subscription limitsfrom 1:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m.,” then migration should be evaluated to sendone or more workloads 200 to Cloud A in the one or more target clouds204, unless Cloud A reports greater than 90% resource usage load, inwhich case an evaluation should be made to send one or more workloads200 to Cloud B in the one or more target clouds 204. Additional and/orother constraints, thresholds, logic, functions, and/or factors can beused in the migration policy stack 196, the set of user-supplied policyparameters 192, the one or more compound migration parameters 202,and/or other variables, functions, and/or criteria.

Upon determining that one or more policies reflected in the migrationpolicy stack 196 permit or require the migration of the one or moreworkloads 200 to one or more clouds in the one or more target clouds204, the policy management tool 210 and/or other logic can interact witha workload migration scheduler 198 to schedule one or more movements ormigrations of the one or more workloads 200 to those host target(s). Incases, the workload migration scheduler 198 can initiate an immediate,real-time, and/or near real-time migration or deployment of the one ormore workloads 200 to the selected one or more target clouds 204, and/orcan schedule a migration of the one or more workloads 200 for a latertime or date. In cases, the one or more workloads 200 and/or portionsthereof can be migrated directly to a single host cloud in the one ormore target clouds 204, or, in cases, the one or more workloads 200and/or portions thereof can be migrated to multiple target clouds in theone or more target clouds 204, and/or can migrated to different targethosts at different times. Other migration techniques, schedules,channels, and/or conditions can be used.

In terms of data capture of the usage, subscription, billing and relatedinformation used to detect and record resource consumption, excessresource capacity flows, and/or other information and/or other events,FIG. 4 illustrates an aggregate usage history record 180 that can beused to store the set of aggregate usage history data 148 which canstore and encode various data, attributes, criteria, and/or otherinformation used to track and manage the differential or marginalresource consumption in the set of host clouds 142 and/or other hostsites by the set of users 190. In aspects, the aggregate usage historyrecord 180 can be encoded as a relational or other database, table,tree, file, object, and/or other data store or data structure. Inaspects as shown, the set of aggregate usage history data 148 encodedand stored in the aggregate usage history record 180 can include tables,entries, values, attributes, and/or other information including set ofshort-term consumption data 162 reflecting the usage of one or moreresources in the set of host clouds 142 by each user in the set of users190 over one or more short-term consumption periods 160. In aspects, theone or more short-term consumption periods 160 can be or include avariety of periods or intervals, such as one-hour intervals (as shown),but can also be or include other periods or intervals, such as 1, 5, 10,15, and/or 30 minutes, 2 hours, 8 hours, 12 hours, one day or 24 hours,3 days, one week, and/or other time intervals or periods. In aspects,the one or more short-term consumption periods 160 can reflect a periodor interval (or periods or intervals) that is/are shorter than theperiod called for in the set of subscription parameters 146 as the basicor defined interval in terms of resource consumption limits or levels,service level agreements (SLAs), and/or other subscription criteria orsettings. In aspects, the short-term subscription period 160 can bedefined to be equal to the subscription period(s) or interval(s) definedby the set of subscription parameters 146. In aspects, the value,length, or short-term nature of the one or more short-term consumptionperiods 160 can be configured as dynamic, flexible, or configurableunits, rather than defined as a strict number of minutes, hours, days,and/or weeks or other units. In aspects, the short-term subscriptionperiod 160 can be set or configured by a user, such as the cloudprovider(s) or cloud operator(s) of the set of host clouds 142, by theone or more resource providers 156, by the set of users 190 whose set ofaggregate usage history data 148 is being track and administered, and/orby other users or entities. In aspects, a record can be kept in theaggregate usage history record 180 recording, for each cloud in the setof host clouds 142 in which the set of users 190 subscribes and/or usesor consumes resources, the short-term consumption data 162 indicating anamount, rate, or other metric of resource consumption over each of theone or more short-term consumption periods 160.

In aspects as shown, the aggregate usage history record 180 can likewiseinclude, for each cloud in the set of host clouds 142 and each resourceconsumed or used in that cloud, the short-term consumption limit 164 forthat user based on the set of subscription parameters 146 and/or otherinformation for each user in the set of users 190. In aspects, theentitlement engine 140 and/or other logic can generate and store ashort-term subscription margin 166 reflecting the deviation in terms ofunder-consumption or over-consumption of each resource for which eachuser in the set of users 190 has a short-term subscription limit 164.The short-term subscription margin 166 can thereby reflect, on acomparatively short-term basis, such as every 15 or 30 minutes, hour, 8hour, one-day or other period, the marginal amount by which theconsumption of a subscribed resource by the set of users 190 isfluctuating and possibly deviating from the short-term consumption limit166. In aspects, the short-term subscription margin 166 can reflect anegative value, indicating that a lesser amount of one or more resourceis being consumed or has been consumed compared to limits or levels inthe set of subscription parameters 146. In aspects, the short-termsubscription margin 166 can reflect a positive value, indicating that agreater amount of one or more resource is being consumed or has beenconsumed compared to limits or levels in the set of subscriptionparameters 146.

In aspects, the entitlement engine 140 and/or other logic can similarlycollect and sum or aggregate the short-term subscription margin 166 overeach host cloud in the set of host clouds 142 in which the set of users190 is using or consuming the subject resource to generate a set ofshort-term user-aggregated margins 178, representing the comparativelyshort-term or immediate net consumption of the resource over the set ofusers 190. In aspects, the set of short-term user-aggregated margins 178can also be aggregated over two or more clouds of the set of host clouds142. The set of short-term user-aggregated margins 178 can be calculatedand stored for each hour and/or other period represented by the one ormore short-term consumption periods 160, for instance over the course ofone hour, day, one week, one month, and/or other period or interval. Inaspects as shown, the entitlement engine 140 and/or other logic orservice can further calculate and store an aggregate consumption total172 over a defined period, such as a one-day or other period, summing oraggregating the set of short-term user-aggregated margins 178 for aresource for one user over that period. In aspects, the aggregateconsumption total 172 can thereby encode the combined, net, averaged,and/or otherwise aggregated effect of the various under and over-limitconsumption events by the set of users 190 in the set of host clouds 142over 12 hours, 24 hours, and/or other predetermined interval. Theentitlement engine 140 and/or other logic can, in addition, alsocalculate and store a set of offset subscription costs 170 reflectingthe costs, surcharges, credits, and/or other adjustments for each hourand/or other period in the one or more short-term consumption periods160 for a particular resource across the set of users 190. A resourceprovider, cloud operator, and/or other entity may be entitled, forinstance, to an overage subscription fee or charge at a rate of $0.50per instance for operating system (OS) instances over the short-termconsumption limit 164 based on that usage, and/or other adjustments orfactors. In aspects, the set of offset subscription costs 170 can becomputed at a fixed rate, and/or at a dynamically adjusted rate, forinstance based on time of usage, total resource consumption, and/orother parameters. The entitlement engine 140 and/or other service orlogic can also generate an aggregate offset subscription cost 174 whichcombines or sums the set of offset subscription costs 170 for each ofthe one or more short-term consumption periods 160 for a predeterminedperiod, such as one day, one week, one month, and/or other period orinterval, across the set of users 190. The aggregate offset subscriptioncost 174, and other consumption variables and cost factors, can inaspects thereby more accurately correspond to the overall rate orabsolute amount of resource consumption in the set of host clouds 142 bythe set of users 190. In embodiments, the entitlement engine 140 and/orother logic can in addition combine, sum, and/or otherwise aggregate ornet the aggregate offset subscription cost 174 for multiple individualresources whose consumption data in turn has been aggregated acrossmultiple host clouds in the corresponding aggregate offset subscriptioncost 174, to generate a total offset subscription cost 182. In aspects,the total offset subscription cost 182 can encapsulate the net marginalresource usage by the set of users 190 against all short-termconsumption limits 164 with associated costs or credits across all hostclouds in the set of host clouds 142, all subscribed resources, and/orall daily or other operative time periods constructed from the one ormore short-term consumption periods 160.

In aspects and as likewise shown in FIG. 4, the entitlement engine 140and/or other logic or service can also store a migration schedule record212 indicating which cloud or cloud in the one or more target clouds 204the one or more workloads 200 and/or portions thereof will be migratedto, and the time periods and/or intervals for which those workloadprocesses will be migrated to the selected target host or hosts.

According to those and related aspects of the present teachings, and asfor example further shown in FIG. 5, the migration policy stack 196 cancomprise or contain a set of one or more policies (P1, P2, P3, . . . )which are to be evaluated, applied, computed, or for which results shallotherwise be generated based on the conditions reflected in the one ormore workloads 200 at one or more periods of time. In aspects, it may benoted that different policies contained in the migration policy stack196 can be applied at or over different time periods. In aspects, theany one or more of the policies contained in the migration policy stack196 can be made to be a function of another policy or policies, so thatdifferent combinations or layers of policies can be enforced or appliedat different times or under different conditions. In aspects, thepolicies in the migration policy stack 196 can be assigned differentpriorities or weights, for instance, according to weights supplied bythe user in the set of user-supplied policy parameters 192 so that,merely for instance, a minimum communications bandwidth of 2Gigabytes/sec has a weight of 1.0 between 2:00 p.m. and 5:00 p.m. OnMondays and Tuesdays, and a weight of 0.8 at other times. Otherconfigurations, settings, parameters, and/or logic can be stored orencode in the migration policy stack 196 and/or associated data.

FIG. 6 illustrates an exemplary diagram of hardware and other resourcesthat can be incorporated in a cloud management system 104 configured tocommunicate with the set of instantiated virtual machines 116,entitlement engine 140, user premise 144, client 154, set of host clouds142, and/or other entities, services, or resources via one or morenetworks 106 and/or other connections, according to embodiments. Inembodiments as shown, the cloud management system 104 can comprise aprocessor 130 communicating with memory 132, such as electronic randomaccess memory, operating under control of or in conjunction with anoperating system 136. The operating system 136 can be, for example, adistribution of the Linux™ operating system, the Unix™ operating system,or other open-source or proprietary operating system or platform. Theprocessor 130 also communicates with a cloud store 138, such as adatabase stored on a local hard drive, and a management engine 128, toexecute control logic and control the operation of virtual machines andother resources in one or more clouds 102, the set of host clouds 142,and/or other collections of clouds. The processor 130 furthercommunicates with a network interface 134, such as an Ethernet orwireless data connection, which in turn communicates with the one ormore networks 106, such as the Internet or other public or privatenetworks. The processor 130 and/or the cloud management system 104 canlikewise communicate with the entitlement engine 140, the policymanagement tool 210, the set of subscription parameters 146, the set ofusage history data 148, the user premise 144, the client 154, the set ofhost clouds 142, and/or other interfaces, applications, machines, sites,services, data, and/or logic. Other configurations of the cloudmanagement system 104, associated network connections, and otherhardware, software, and service resources are possible. It may be notedthat in embodiments, the client 154 and/or other hardware machines,platforms, or engines can comprise the same or similar resources ascloud management system 104, or can be configured with differenthardware and software resources.

FIG. 7 illustrates a flowchart of overall processing to perform thetracking of resource consumption, management of subscription parameters,short-term billing capture and margin reconciliation and relatedactivities, according to various embodiments of the present teachings.In 702, processing can begin. In 704, an administrator or other user caninitiate and/or access the set of aggregate usage history data 148 forthe set of users 190 and/or other user or users via the entitlementengine 140 and/or other logic. In 706, an administrator or other usercan initiate and/or access the set of subscription parameters 146,indicating, for instance, resource consumption rates, limits, caps,and/or other subscription parameters or factors by which the set ofusers 190 can subscribe to resources of the set of host clouds 140. In708, the entitlement engine 140 and/or other logic can track, register,and/or monitor the set of aggregate usage history data 148 to determinethe short-term subscription margin 166 for each resource to which theset of users 190 subscribes, in each host cloud in set of host clouds142 to which the user is registered. In aspects, the short-termsubscription margin 166 can be tracked or monitored for each period inthe one or more short-term consumption periods 160. In aspects, the oneor more short-term subscription periods 160 can be or include one ormore periods such as, for instance, one-hour periods as shown, and/orcan also or instead include other periods such as periods or intervalsof 1, 5, 10, 15, or 30 minutes, 8-hour periods, 12-hour periods, 24-hourperiods, and/or other periods or intervals. In aspects, the one or moreshort-term consumption periods 160 can correspond to the short timeperiods tracked by the cloud management system, the entitlement engine140, the set of host clouds 142, and/or other cloud logic orinfrastructure. In aspects, the one or more short-term consumptionperiods 160 can comprise equally-spaced intervals, and/or can includeintervals of different durations or lengths.

In 710, the entitlement engine 140 and/or other logic can sum theshort-term subscription margin 166 across all users in the set of users190 and/or all host clouds for each period of the one or more short-termconsumption periods 160 to generate the short-term user-aggregatedsubscription margin 172 for that respective period. For instance, inexemplary records as shown in FIG. 4, the number of operating system(OS) instances instantiated and/or run by the set of users 190 in agiven hour across the set of host clouds 142 can be totaled, so thatinstances of under-limit consumption offset instances of over-limitconsumption, resulting in a net short-term cloud-aggregated subscriptionmargin 178 for the one or more short-term consumption periods 160 acrossall users in set of users 190 for one or more all host clouds. In cases,the set of short-term user-aggregated margins 178 may reflect a netover-consumption (positive) value for that hour or other period (asillustratively shown), or can reflect an under-consumption (negative)value for that same period. A zero margin (at-limit) value can also bereflected.

In 712, the entitlement engine 140 and/or other logic can generate theset of marginal consumption totals 168 reflecting the total combinedshort-term subscription margin 166 for each resource being tracked overa 24-hour, or other interval or period. For example, and as shown forinstance in FIG. 4, the under-limit (e.g. recorded as a negative value)and over-limit (e.g. recorded as a positive value) margins or incrementsof consumption under or over the short-term consumption limit 164 foreach one or more short-term consumption periods 160 can be summed orcombined to determine the set of short-term user-aggregated margins 178for each respective resource over a 24-hour period, again for one ormore host clouds. In aspects, other periods or intervals other than a24-hour period can be used to sum the values reflected in the set ofshort-term user-aggregated margins 178. The values reflected in the setof short-term user-aggregated margins 178 can thereby reflect thenetting out of the under-consumption and over-consumption values for agiven resource in two or more dimensions, namely over multiple usersand/or two or more host clouds, and over multiple instances of the oneor more short-term consumption periods 160, averaging out consumptionfluctuations by the set of users 190 in relation to the set ofshort-term consumption limits 164.

In 714, the entitlement engine 140 and/or other logic can generate theset of offset subscription costs 170 for each of the one or moreshort-term consumption periods 160 corresponding to the set ofshort-term user-aggregated margins 178 for each subscribed resource. Forinstance, if the record for a given one or more short-term consumptionperiods 160 reflects the over-consumption of 20 operating systeminstances, the assigned overage cost of that usage may be, for instance,$0.50 times 20 instances, or $10.00 for that hour or other period. In716, the entitlement engine 140 and/or other logic can generate theaggregate offset subscription cost 174 for one 24-hour or other period,representing the combination of the set of offset subscription costs 170over a multiple number of the one or more short-term consumption periods160, such as the combination of 24 one-hour periods, or other intervals,periods, or multiples. In 718, the entitlement engine 140 and/or otherlogic can generate the billing record 150 based on the aggregate offsetsubscription cost 174 for each resource being tracked and/or metered forthe set of users 190, and/or based on other costs, adjustments, offsets,and/or factors. In 720, the entitlement engine 140 and/or other logic,entities, or resources, such as the operator of the set of host clouds142, can transmit the billing record 150 to an administrator for the setof users 190 and/or other user or other recipient. In 724, as understoodby persons skilled in the art, processing can repeat, return to a priorprocessing point, jump to a further processing point, or end.

FIG. 8 illustrates various processing that can be used in systems andmethods for a cloud deployment engine and associated policy processingthat can be used in systems and methods for triggering workload movementbased on a policy stack having multiple selectable inputs, according toaspects of the teachings. In 802, processing can begin. In 804, anadministrator and/or other user can initiate the policy management tool210 and/or other logic, applications, services, or tools to manage themigration policies and parameters that will be used to evaluate thepotential migration of one or more workloads 200 executed in orsupported by a set of virtual machines 116 operated by a user or usersin the set of host clouds 142. In 806, the policy management tool 210and/or other application, logic, and/or service can access and/or reador extract the set of aggregate usage history data 148 for the subjectuser or users, as well as the set of subscription parameters 146 for theuser(s) of the set of virtual machines 116, which again can for instancebe or include individual users and/or collections of users, such as acorporation and/or other entity.

In 808, the policy management tool 210 and/or other application, logic,and/or service can analyze the set of aggregate usage history data 148and/or other information to generate a set of workload migrationpolicies 196 and/or potions thereof based on usage trends and/or otherresults or factors. In aspects, the set of workload migration policies196 and/or portions thereof can be performed at an initial stage ofworkload policy management to generate initial or default policies,before a user has indicated their inputs or preferences for one or morepolicy limits or parameters. Thus for instance, the policy managementtool 210 and/or other application, logic, and/or service can determine,for instance, that the user's one or more workloads 200 has, over thelast seven days and/or other time period, demonstrated or reflected areduction of 50% in data access activity from the applicable limit fromthe hours of 12 midnight to 7:00 a.m. from Monday through Friday, and areduction in processor resource consumption of 75% from the applicablelimit in that same period. In aspects, the policy management tool 210can therefore establish a workload migration policy of “migrate workload(200) to a reduced-cost host cloud for the interval of 12:00 a.m. to7:00 a.m. during the days of Monday-Friday, unless either processorconsumption exceeds 25% of the limit or data access activity exceeds 50%of the limit specified in the user's set of subscription parameters(146).” Other parameters, time periods, thresholds, and/or calculationsor criteria can be used.

In 810, the policy management tool 210 and/or other application, logic,and/or service can receive a set of user-selected migration policyparameters 192 via the selection interface 194 and/or other interface,channel, and/or connection. For instance, the user can supply parametersindicating “trigger workload migration to higher-capacity cloud host iftransaction throughput of virtual machines 1-200 exceeds 105% ofsubscription limit between 10:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m.,” and/or “triggerworkload migration to lower-capacity cloud host if transactionthroughput of virtual machines 201-500 drops below 50% of subscriptionlimit between 9:00 p.m. and 6:00 a.m.” Other specifications, thresholds,resource consumption limits, workload performance or operatingparameters, and/or other factors can be used.

In 812, the workload migration scheduler 198, the policy management tool210 and/or other application, logic, and/or service can analyze andconfigure the migration of the one or more workloads 200 based on theset of workload migration policies 196, the conditions and/or valuesdetected in the set of aggregate usage history data 148, and/or otherinformation. In aspects, the workload migration scheduler 198, thepolicy management tool 210 and/or other application, logic, and/orservice can schedule or initiate the migration or partial migration ofone or more workloads 200 on an immediate, real-time, and/or nearreal-time basis, depending on the conditions and/or values reflected inthe set of aggregate usage history data. In aspects, the workloadmigration scheduler 198, the policy management tool 210 and/or otherapplication, logic, and/or service can in addition or instead schedulethe migration or partial migration of the one or more workloads 200 on adelayed basis, for instance for a number of hours later in the eveningof a given day, and/or at other times or intervals. In aspects, it maybe noted that the migration of the one or more workloads 200 and/orportions thereof can be scheduled or configured on a temporary ortime-limited basis, or can in cases be scheduled or configured on apermanent or comparatively long-term basis.

In 814, the workload migration scheduler 198, the policy management tool210 and/or other application, logic, and/or service can execute themigration of the one or more workloads 200 and/or portions thereof toone or more target clouds 204, for instance, by interacting with one ormore cloud management systems 102 of the one or more target clouds 204and/or other entities, services, or resources. In 816, the entitlementengine 140, workload migration scheduler 198, the policy management tool210, cloud management system(s) 102 of the one or more target clouds,and/or other application, logic, and/or service can record additionalusage data in the set of aggregate usage history data 148 incorporatingresource consumption by the migrated one or more workloads 200 operatingin the one or more target clouds 204, as appropriate.

In 818, the workload migration scheduler 198, the policy management tool210 and/or other application, logic, and/or service can update and/prmodify the set of workload migration policies 196 based on additionalusage data and/or further user-selected policy parameters received inthe set of user-selected policy parameters 192, as appropriate. Forinstance, a determination can be made that excess consumption trends orlevels that triggered the migration of one or more workloads 200 and/orportions thereof to the one or more target clouds 204 have tapered off,and one or more workloads 200 need not remain in the one or more targetclouds 204 for the scheduled period of time. In 820, processing can jumpto a prior processing point, proceed to a further processing point,repeat, or end.

The foregoing description is illustrative, and variations inconfiguration and implementation may occur to persons skilled in theart. For example, while embodiments have been described in which thecloud management system 104 for a particular cloud resides in a singleserver or platform, in embodiments the cloud management system 104 andassociated logic can be distributed among multiple servers, services, orsystems. Similarly, while embodiments have been described in which onegroup of servers within a set of resource servers 108 can provide onecomponent to build a requested set of virtual machines, in embodiments,one group of resource servers can deliver multiple components topopulate the requested set of instantiated virtual machines 116, and/orother machines, entities, services, or resources. For further example,while embodiments have been described in which a user connects to oraccesses the entitlement engine 140 via one client 154, in embodiments,multiple clients, portals, services, and/or other access points to theentitlement engine 140 can be used. Likewise, while embodiments havebeen described in which one entitlement engine 140 and/or policymanagement tool 210 operate to manage the resource consumption, billing,and/or other activities of one or more users in a set of host clouds142, in embodiments, multiple deployment engines, scheduling engines,and/or other logic or services can perform the same or similar logic tomanage deployment options. Other resources described as singular orintegrated can in embodiments be plural or distributed, and resourcesdescribed as multiple or distributed can in embodiments be combined. Thescope of the invention is accordingly intended to be limited only by thefollowing claims.

1. A method of managing workload migration policies, comprising:accessing a set of usage history data for a set of resources consumed bya set of virtual machines executing a workload in at least one hostcloud; generating a migration policy stack based on a set ofuser-selected policy parameters, wherein the set of user-supplied policyparameters comprises a set of multiple selectable inputs; and schedulingthe migration of the workload to the at least one target cloud based onthe migration policy stack and the set of usage history data.
 2. Themethod of claim 1, wherein the migration policy stack comprises a set ofresource consumption thresholds.
 3. The method of claim 2, wherein themigration policy stack comprises the exceeding of at least two of theset of resource consumption thresholds over time different time periods.4. The method of claim 1, wherein the set of resource consumptionthresholds comprises at least one resource consumption threshold that isa function of a workload performance parameter.
 5. The method of claim4, wherein the workload performance parameter comprises a transactionrate by at least one of the set of virtual machines configured as atransaction server.
 6. The method of claim 1, wherein the set ofresource consumption thresholds is time-time-dependent.
 7. The method ofclaim 1, wherein the set of multiple selectable inputs comprises a setof multiple selectable inputs presented to a user via a graphicalinterface.
 8. The method of claim 1, wherein at least one of the set ofuser-selected policy parameters is a function of at least one other ofthe set of user-selected policy parameters.
 9. The method of claim 1,further comprising an updated migration policy stack based on an updatedset of usage history data incorporating resource consumption in themigrated workload.
 10. The method of claim 1, wherein the set ofuser-selected policy parameters comprises at least one policy parameterautomatically generated based on the set of usage history data.
 11. Asystem for distributing cloud workloads, comprising: an interface todata store storing a set of usage history data for a set of virtualmachines consuming a set of resources executing a workload in at leastone host cloud; and a processor, communicating with the data store viathe interface and being configured to access the set of usage historydata for a set of resources consumed by the set of virtual machinesexecuting the workload, generate a migration policy stack based on a setof user-selected policy parameters, wherein the set of user-suppliedpolicy parameters comprises a set of multiple selectable inputs, andschedule the migration of the workload to the at least one target cloudbased on the migration policy stack and the set of usage history data.12. The system of claim 11, wherein the migration policy stack comprisesa set of resource consumption thresholds.
 13. The system of claim 12,wherein the migration policy stack comprises the exceeding of at leasttwo of the set of resource consumption thresholds over time differenttime periods.
 14. The system of claim 11, wherein the set of resourceconsumption thresholds comprises at least one resource consumptionthreshold that is a function of a workload performance parameter. 15.The system of claim 14, wherein the workload performance parametercomprises a transaction rate by at least one of the set of virtualmachines configured as a transaction server.
 16. The system of claim 11,wherein the set of resource consumption thresholds is time-dependent.17. The system of claim 11, wherein the set of multiple selectableinputs comprises a set of multiple selectable inputs presented to a uservia a graphical interface.
 18. The system of claim 11, wherein at leastone of the set of user-selected policy parameters is a function of atleast one other of the set of user-selected policy parameters.
 19. Thesystem of claim 11, wherein the processor is further configured toupdate the migration policy stack based on an updated set of usagehistory data incorporating resource consumption in the migratedworkload.
 20. The system of claim 11, wherein the set of user-selectedpolicy parameters comprises at least one policy parameter automaticallygenerated based on the set of usage history data.